In the past, tents and campers have been proposed which are carried upon and supported by vehicles. Examples of such systems may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 2,291,900 (Jimmes); U.S. Pat. No. 2,811,725 (Cence); U.S. Pat. No. 3,018,782 (Hershberger); U.S. Pat. No. 3,021,852 (Hoffman); U.S. Pat. No. 3,255,466 (Weizer); U.S. Pat. No. 3,603,330 (Halldorson); U.S. Pat. No. 3,685,061 (Wray); U.S. Pat. No. 3,924,365 (Orberg); U.S. Pat. No. 4,058,133 (Barr et al. ); Canada Pat. No. 618404; and French Pat. No. 2 525 539.
The patent to Orberg discloses a portable, rooftop sleeper for an automobile having upper and lower shells hinged at one end. Pressure clamps are spaced about the sides of the two shells to maintain these shells in a closed condition and to create sufficient pressure to ensure a weather tight closure. A flexible curtain having side walls and an end wall define an interior compartment when the upper shell is raised. A telescopic prop, which is spring loaded, retains the curtain in a taut condition. The side wall contains a zippered opening flap to allow a user to enter the compartment. The side and end walls include windows with roll down interior flap covers. The lower shell retains a mattress and a pillow.
The patent to Hershberger discloses a car top sleeper having a top panel hinged to a car top sleeper. The top panel is secured to straight braces through hinges. The straight braces hold the top panel in an elevated position when the sleeper is opened.
The patent to Cence discloses a compartment attached to the roof of a motor vehicle, wherein the compartment includes collapsible walls which are provided with elastic cables having bars on opposite ends thereof which are attached to loops in the side walls. The elastic cables are used to draw the side walls inwardly when the roof is lowered to a closed position. This drawing action prevents the side walls from collapsing outwardly and thus projecting beyond the roof member thereby requiring manually tucking-in the flexible side walls under the roof after it has been lowered. The collapsible walls are attached to the side walls by means of snaps or any other manner.
The patent to Hoffman discloses a car top tent which includes a cover having a pair of shelves which are disposed at different levels and are suspended therefrom. The shelves are suspended from flexible hangers. When the cover is swung to its closed position, the shelf assembly collapses.
The patent to Halldorson discloses a collapsible tent which includes a bed that may also be used as a table. The tent further includes a second bed which extends laterally at a position intermediate to the ends of the tent.
However, these conventional systems have met with limited success. First, these units are limited to use on the top of a vehicle. In addition, each of these conventional systems is quite difficult to place and secure onto the top of a vehicle. The conventional tent assemblies required at least two strong adult persons to load onto the top of the vehicle and to erect for use. Thus, these structures were limited in utility and inconvenient if not unusable by most campers.
Secondly, these conventional systems experience excessive leaking between the bottom and the side walls. Specifically the front, back and side walls of the conventional tents are secured directly to the floor section thereof. However, this interconnection creates a trough around the tent assembly proximate the bottom portions of the front, back and side walls and the floor of the tent. Hence, during rain storms, this trough collects water which ultimately seeps into the tent.
As noted by Hoffman, while numerous car top tents have been proposed, all include numerous difficulties. These former tents may be broadly divided into two classes, namely those tent structures which are directly elevated and supported on all four sides by suitable props, and car top tents which are pivotally connected at one end of the car top. As noted by Hoffman, the former type of tents still experience the problem of raising the cover and the provision of adequate lightweight supports. This problem has not been solved by the prior art. With respect to the latter type of tent, existing tents have failed to provide the normal space requirements internally due to the limitations of the hinge. While Hoffman attempted to address the space requirement issue, Hoffman utilized an unduly complex hinge mechanism which was extremely difficult to construct, fasten and utilize in practice.
Additionally, the prior art has always necessitated a complex roof and/or bumper mounting system uniquely constructed for use with the "car top camper". In the past, vehicles were not uniform in their mounting characteristics (i.e., roof length, width, load carrying capacity, presence of absence of structural rain gutters, etc.). Thus, previously proposed roof and/or bumper mounting attachment systems offered in conjunction with conventional car top campers, were not sufficiently flexible in design to allow a uniform and safe attachment to a variety of vehicle types. Further, these conventional roof and/or bumper mounting attachments required drilling and other means of irreversibly altering the roof/bumper system or potentially caused damage to the roof of the vehicle (i.e., dimpling, abrading the painting surface, etc.).
Additionally, the conventional systems have been extremely heavy and difficult for even two adult persons to secure upon the vehicle.
Moreover, conventional tents have provided an ineffective manner for cleaning the tent. Specifically, a user must enter the tent structure to clean it. This inconvenience is somewhat attributed to the fact that the front, back and side walls of the tent are securely fastened to the floor and ceiling sections thereof. Thus, to remove dirt from the tent, the user must sweep dirt out the door or use a vacuum cleaner. The flexible side walls could not be removed and as such limited the thorough cleaning of the same. Further, conventional tent structures are not overly rigid once erected. Thus, the tents usefulness is limited in windy weather. This deficiency of the prior art in windy weather is further magnified by the fact that the tent structure is located upon the roof of the vehicle.
Further, the conventional car top campers were solely useful as a tent, while separate cargo carriers were necessary. The conventional tent systems were not useful as cargo carriers since the front and side tent walls were not removable, and the closure of the unit would be hampered if items were stored within. Also, these conventional tents offered restricted appliance use since the only power supply, located therewith, was the vehicle's battery. Generally, these batteries were insufficient as an electrical power source for an extended period of time. Finally, conventional tent systems did not afford sufficient sleeping space. To increase the sleeping area, it was necessary to provide a larger floor space.
A need remains within the industry for an improved shelter/camper assembly which possesses high practical utility together with expanded functionality such that it could serve as a storage unit or be placed on the ground or other surfaces for use as such. It is a primary object of the present invention to meet this need.